Fraud is a growing problem in the mobile telecommunications industry. More particularly, mobile terminal cloning is rampant in wireless markets in the United States, and around the world. Cloning is a fraudulent procedure in which valid electronic serial numbers (ESN), and valid mobile identification numbers (MIN) are obtained from mobile terminals which broadcast this information during every access attempt. The most common method for obtaining ESN and MIN information is by using readily-available scanners positioned along major traffic routes in heavy, wireless user markets. Once a cloner has obtained a valid ESN/MIN, the numbers are programmed into a different, fraudulent mobile terminal. The fraudulent mobile terminal subsequently becomes a "clone", and may be used to place calls which are billed to the non-fraudulent owner of the mobile terminal identified by the ESN/MIN numbers. In response to the cloning epidemic, mobile terminal authentication efforts have been introduced. Particularly, mobile terminal manufacturers store a piece of data known as "shared secret data" (SSD) in each mobile terminal. Whenever a mobile terminal accesses a wireless telecommunications system, the system challenges the mobile terminal to provide a response based on an algorithm incorporating the stored SSD. The initial SSD value stored in each mobile terminal by the manufacturer is usually a universal, default value.
Although the SSD is not transmitted over an air interface, disingenuous parties have designed methods for obtaining SSD values, and bypassing authentication procedures. For example, cloners often navigate authentication procedures by mimicking authentication responses using a typical, default SSD value. Accordingly, a messaging protocol has been established to update the default SSD value stored in a mobile terminal. Conventional updates are implemented by a wireless service provider, and require manual intervention by a wireless service technician. More particularly, the wireless-service technician monitors the wireless telecommunications system to identify an "active" mobile terminal (that is, a mobile terminal able to receive challenges from the wireless system). Upon identification of an active mobile, the technician attempts an SSD update using an authentication database. The update occurs only if the mobile terminal is active, and the wireless service technician happens to attempt the update. In other words, the present update system relies on the random chance of the wireless service technician finding an active mobile terminal. For this reason, the current SSD update procedure results in sporadic updates. Accordingly, using conventional techniques, there is a high probability that most of the 100,000+ mobile terminals served in a typical wireless market will not have their default SSD values changed in a timely manner, leaving these mobiles more susceptible to cloning Therefore, there is a need in the art for ensuring that default SSD values can be predictably and expeditiously updated by wireless service providers.